Why Bryce McGowens chooses Nebraska is a big deal

Nebraska basketball made history on Friday when Bryce McGowens, 2021 Legacy Early College Greenville (SC) goalie, signed on and signed with the Huskers.

Ranked No. 23 overall in the class of 21, McGowens became the NU’s first five-star and highest-rated high school engagement of the Rivals era (2002-present).

But the importance goes far beyond a boost in the 2021 Nebraska roster’s roster rankings. Here are three reasons why …

As the only power conference team to ever win a single NCAA tournament game, Nebraska has long been a punch bag on the national college basketball scene.

McGowens won’t even arrive on campus until 2021, but his addition – associated with all the other head coaches working Fred hoiberg and his staff did the overhaul of the file – changed that perception.

Schools at the bottom of the totem pole are not meant to attract five-star recruits. They are certainly not meant to have players who have been heavily chased by bluebloods like Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Arizona, Oregon and others.

You can attribute this to the Huskers who are just lucky enough to already have McGowens’ older brother Trey on the roster to help seal the deal. It was a major factor, without a doubt.

But Nebraska doesn’t get Trey McGowens, a full-fledged four-star top 100 rookie, without having real vision with a bona fide coach leading the way. The same can be said for all the other transfers that come to Lincoln from eternal contenders for the NCAA tournament.

The revamped perception won’t last long if the Huskers don’t start winning in the next few years. But right now, people across the country are looking at what Hoiberg has built on just two recruiting classes a little differently.

Landing Bryce McGowens is pretty exciting for Nebraska fans. But think about the team he could potentially join when added to the mix in 2021-2022.

The Huskers are expected to lose just two seniors, Kobe webster and Thorir thorbjarnarson, from this season’s list. If they can keep their core rotation, which is already a veteran squad, next year could be the deepest and most talented roster that NU basketball has seen in decades.

And he’ll add a five-star combo guard to McGowens, arguably the top 3-point shooter in the JUCO ranks to Keisei Tominaga, and a Rivals150 forward / center of power to Wilhelm Breidenbach.

Assuming current Nebraska players are able to develop at the rate the coaching staff is hoping for, the third year under Hoiberg could be something special. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Huskers could be one of the top 25 preseason teams in 21-22.

Prior to Friday, there was a story that Hoiberg was only interested in the transfer market and didn’t prioritize high school rookies like other programs.

To be fair, the two roster reversals over the past year and a half have definitely confirmed that.

But now Nebraska has just landed one of the nation’s most coveted high school prospects and signed him in the fall. It wasn’t a deal where McGowens scrambled to find a new school after a late withdrawal in April.

He had his pick of the best programs in the country and he picked the Huskers before playing a game in his high school season.

Basketball recruiting is a small world, especially with the elite level rookies on the best circuits in the AAU. The kids talk, as do the high school and AAU coaches.

When a player with McGowens’ profile chooses a school like Nebraska, people take notice. Especially the young recruits who are also recruited by the Huskers.

When Hoiberg or as a recruiter Matt Abdelmassih Call their targets 2022, 23 and even 24 now, their pitch is going to carry a little more weight. If they can find a way to add success on the pitch, those conversations will change completely.